House of Assembly Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1) 55 1 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Grievance Debate Marine Wildlife Deaths Marine Wildlife Deaths Mr COWDREY House of Assembly Colton Mr COWDREY (Colton) (15:32): I rise today to speak about an issue of great concern to my community and many others around South Australia. Frankly, there have been disturbing scenes both on my local beaches and also more broadly across the state over recent times. The instances of marine life and fish deaths occurring over recent weeks are certainly unusual and significantly increased compared to historical and recent memory, in particular on suburban, highly patronised beaches. Just in the last few weeks, we have had the occurrence on 5 May of a great white shark washed up on the shore at Henley Beach South, and despite the attempts of passers-by the shark died on the beach. On 6 May, a shark was found washed up on the beach at Port Jackson as well. On 7 May, a deceased penguin was found on the shore at West Beach. On 7 May also, numerous cuttlefish were found washed up at Henley Beach South. Other deceased marine life, including fish, has been found along the coast over that same period of time. More broadly across the state, we have seen instances of sharks being found washed up on the shore at Ardrossan, at Aldinga and also at Port Noarlunga. Thousands of dead and dying fish have been found on the east and south-east coast of the Yorke Peninsula, and one marine biologist involved in this discovery was seriously injured by a distressed eagle ray. Thousands of cockles have been found washed up dead at Goolwa Beach, and dead blue-ringed octopuses have been discovered at the Edithburgh jetty, as well as hundreds of dead fish found at Waitpinga Beach and Parsons Beach on the Fleurieu Peninsula. Clearly, images such as the one of the great white shark at Henley Beach South are disturbing and confronting scenes. The primary apex predator of the sea washed up on our shoreline deceased is clearly troubling, troubling to the extent that many in my community are rightfully concerned and are keen to understand exactly what is going on. It is why I wrote to the Minister for Environment urging that an independent inquiry, separate of the government, be established to get to the bottom of those deaths. Clearly, there is a strong hypothesis that the algal bloom that has appeared in SA waters has contributed; however, there are also other factors that have been raised that may or may not have contributed to this issue, and clearly we are at a point where we need to see answers. These issues along our coastline compound the ongoing concern my community has when it comes to our local beaches. Now, nearly six months after the dredging trial was conducted and now finished, we are still none the wiser on the results or the next steps that this government will take. Once again, I stand here in this place, on behalf of my community, calling on the government to release in full the results of the dredging trial and make it clear to my community what the next steps will be and what their plan is for coastal management in the western suburbs. In the meantime, the trucks continue to take sand onto our beaches; and I do not like in any way to be negative about the much-needed sand coming in and being placed on our beaches, but the scenes this week of a significantly sized earthmoving truck bogged at the Torrens outlet emphasises exactly why a new approach is absolutely needed. The call from my community is very clear: get on with it, tell us what you are doing, be transparent and please get to the bottom of what is occurring on our beaches. It is clear that we need answers as to the ongoing issue around marine life and fish deaths, but also clarity on the other hand in terms of what the government's proposal and plan is for coastal management into the future.